Valerian, The Legendary

254 Humanity In The Wilderness.

Valerian took the bracelet from the guard and tied it around his wrist, the next moment he sensed the mana flow inside his body slow down and then almost vanish. He looked at the bracelet in surprise and opened his mouth to speak, but without the mana circulating through the collar chains, he could not speak.

He sighed, and undid the bracelet once, before he said, “May I ask what should I call you?”

The lady said, “I am Frila, and this is my comrade, Teal.”

Valerian nodded and said, “Do the two of you understand sign language?”

The two people were not from the human realm and were confused. Valerian scratched the back of his head and asked, “Do you understand bird language?”

The two people nodded and Valerian let out a few birds sounds and the people understood. The young prince said, “We can use the bird language to communicate when in the forest.”

The two guards were surprised and then they nodded. Valerian tied the bracelet back on his wrist and then the two of them took the young man out of the village. After a few rows of Sripa Tree, Valerian found himself in a forest that matched a description similar to what he had in his mind.

Valerian and the two guards were moving through the trees. The Clar-awk village was truly hidden in the leaves. They had no roads that would lead them in or out. This much secrecy and security made the silver-haired boy think that the situation in the village was not very peaceful with the other people.

They moved through the forest and with great speeds they managed to cover a considerable distance Frila said, ‘You can start hunting now, Master Valerian.’

.....

Valerian nodded and increased the distance between the two guards and himself. He did not want them to interfere and also needed some room to move as he wished.

After traveling and looking for tracks of the beast for another two hours, he spotted a set of paw prints on the soft mud. He checked and found that the tracks were fresh, and he began to search around for the beast. The young man was not a virgin when it came to tracking, he carried the blessings of the wind wolves on himself, and it gave him keener senses and instincts.

Valerian moved through the woods and found a den. He did not rush in but sat down on the branch of a tall tree, and focused on the voices around him. Gradually, his surroundings calmed down and he could only hear the faint groans coming from the den. After a few minutes, he sighed and left the place.

Frila and Teal were surprised to see this, and they discussed it with each other. Teal shook his head and said, “Probably he thought that the beast was too much for him to handle.”

Frila shook her head and said, “We cannot say anything about his potential. Her grace told me that this guy is a Magnum Magister and we were not to offend him. I think it will be best if we go and try to find out what sort of a beast is there.”

Teal said, “You go, I will tail him, catch up soon, these days those snakes are a bit too active.”

Frila nodded and left the place to check the situation inside the den.

...

Meanwhile, Valerian found a big beast, it was like a bull but the skin was too thick and it had two pairs of horns growing from the forehead. The beast was laying on the ground and seemed to be sleeping.

However, Valerian did not get close, he made a circle around the beast first to confirm if any other party was present and staking out. He picked up a stone and undid the sword on his waist. Then he used the blade to chisel away the stone into a shard. The shard was six inches long and looked like an arrowhead.

Valerian tied his sword back and adjusted his balance before he took aim at the beast. His eyes were observing every little detail of how the beast’s body was moving, however, he did not reveal any killing intent.

He was aware that beasts had a way better threat perception than a human. While he was in preparation, Frila returned from her search and asked, “What is the situation?”

Teal said, “He seemed to be scouting and observing a Silverback Stag-bull. What did you find?”

Frila said, “It was a female Glass Panter, however, she just gave birth and had two young ones with her. He must have detected that and decided to not go in for the kill.”

Teal shrugged his shoulders and said, “I still do not belie...”

He could not complete his words and heard a loud bellow. They looked in the direction of the beast and found a shard embedded in the flesh of its neck. That part was just a loose mass of fat accumulated around the beast’s neck. However, Valerian knew that this place was the easiest to cut through.

Valerian jumped down the tree and the beast looked at him with rage-filled eyes. The young man untied his sword and challenged the beast with a gesture to come at him. The Stag-bull snorted and stood up from the ground. Magical beasts were all intellectually awake and knew the meaning of taunts and gestures.

Valerian’s challenge was insulting and irritating, so the beast stood up and stood up on its hind legs before it stomped down and vanished from its place. Valerian was not slow either and he changed his position. The beast was anything but slow. The tree behind Valerian faced the collision and was directly uprooted.

The prince understood that he was playing at the edge of life and death here. This beast was unlike anything he has faced before. Thinking about this, the young man channeled his battle aura in his body and formed gauntlets and shin guards. The next moment his speed increased exponentially and then he appeared above the head of the enraged beast.

The beast was shaking its head looking for the person that enraged it, but Valerian did not give it a chance while diving down, he slashed the sword and something unexpected happened.

The beast raised its head, with a thick amount of mana gathering between the two pairs of horns. Valerian opened his eyes wide, but he had committed a bit too much in the attack and could not pull back.

The two guards were about to rush in when Valerian took out an ancient wooden sword. This weapon could dispel all magical attacks. The next moment, the mana beam shot by the beast collided with the wooden sword, only to be dispelled.

The wooden sword was in his left hand, and after he defended himself, Valerian used his right hand to slash down at the beast’s neck with his metal sword. Then he landed on the ground. He looked at the beast’s head, which slowly slipped down from the torso, and a fountain of blood erupted from the neck.

Valerian moved back from the spot and then he took deep breaths. Teal and Frila approached him and the lady said, “Master Valerian, you underestimated the Silverback Stag-bull.”

Valerian did not deny it and nodded. He did not know about the magical attack capabilities of the beast and thus was almost gravely injured. He looked at the corpse and said, ‘Can you help me extract the materials we need from this corpse? You only guide me I will do the dirty work.’

Frila asked, “Do you wish to do it here?”

Valerian nodded and said, ‘I have some idea about the flesh.’

Frila nodded, and Teal was asked to supervise the young prince while the lady maintained a vigil. The task was hard, but Valerian was a good learner, he did not question Teal much and followed what he said. His hands were stable and his gaze was firm. It was not the first time he has cleaned a corpse, but the beast’s anatomy was slightly different and he did not want to damage any goods.

Teal said, “Inside the skull, there should be a magic crystal. You can sell it for a good price.”

Valerian asked while his hand was shoved inside the skull of the beast, “Do the magical beasts here also feed on these crystals from other beasts?”

Teal nodded and Valerian cleaned the entire corpse. After the skin leather, horns, eyes, spinal cord, and hooves were extracted, he also picked up the flesh. His actions confused the two guards, but Valerian did not explain and moved toward the beast’s den.

Teal whispered to Frila, “He is probably trying to lure out that glass panther and hunt her down. The cubs will be taken away too. Humans are surely greedy.”

His eyes were always judgemental, and Frila also frowned at this moment. However, when they came near the den, Valerian let out a low roar. He removed the flesh from his magic pouch and placed it near the den. Then after another series of low and gentle roars and groans, he tossed the magic crystal inside the den.

The two guards were surprised to see the young boy pulling away from the spot, and Frila could not help but ask, “Why did you do that?”

Valerian smiled and said, ‘After giving birth, the bodies of the magical beasts weaken, and they are vulnerable. This meat will allow that panther to stay safe, and take care of her cubs better. Not all humans are greedy, some just do not wish for others to suffer from the things they have.’